Limb support



United States Patent [72] Inventor Marion L. Aydt 2802 Lasses, Apt. 43, San Antonio, Texas 78223 [21] Appl. No. 699,859 [22] Filed Jan. 23, 1968 [45] Patented Sept. 15, 1970 [54] LIMB SUPPORT 1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figs.-

[52] 11.8. CI 128/88, 128/90, 5/92, 5/327, 269/328, 24/243 [51] Int. Cl. A611 5/04 [50] Field oi'Seareh ..128/84-89. 83, 82, 77, 80, 70, 90; 5/92, 327; 269/328; 248/118; 24/243RE, 248SA, 248RC [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 449,436 3/1891 Daggett 128/82 5/1918 Wilson .1 269/328 9/1927 Jones 128/88 5/1938 Goodhart 128/88 5/1945 Ruther 5/92 9/1958 Ridgers et al ..24/248(RC)UX 6/1966 Caypinar 1 28/ 88X FOREIGN PATENTS 10/1926 France 128/80 Primary Examiner-Richard A. Gaudet Assistant ExaminerRonald L. Frinks Attorneys-Harry A. Herbert, Jr. and Jacob N. Erlich ABSTRACT: An adjustable limb support having a main member pivotally mounted on one end to a clamp and at the other end to an end support means and a preformed adjustable limb holding means rotatably mounted on the end support means for supporting an injured limb.

Patented Sept. 15, 1970 3,528,415;

Sheet 1 of 2 INVENTOR. MAE/0N L. 4Y0? BY 1730 wweae Patented Sept, 15, 1970 Sheet 2 of 2 INVENTOR. 04 L- 4V0? BY }Z; W

LIMB SUPPORT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to medical appliances, and more particularly to an adjustable brace or support for the arms or legs of the human body wherein, particularly in the case of borie fractures, the arms or legs of the body are retained in a stationary position to facilitate healing and/or medical treatment thereof.

Various types of braces and supports have been heretofore provided for retaining members of the body and particularly arms and legs in extended positions.

One type of such prior art device is the stationary splint. The stationary splint is of simple construction and is usually made up of wooden members fixedly securing a-limb of a patient to a bed or stretcher on which the patient is lying. Although this device is of simple construction, this type of splint or support has no adjustability and therefore has proved to be useful only in circumstances wherein the patients injury is such that it can be best treated when in the position of an already existing splint.

Another more practical support is the adjustable splint or limb support. The adjustability of such a device is usually dependent upon a highly complex mechanism. Although the adjustable splint or limb support is useful in hospitals where nurses or attendants can maintain and operate the complex adjustability mechanism, in the casualty staging area of a battle zone, or when being air-evacuated from a battle area, these highly complex mechanisms prove to be too cumbersome and too difficult to maintain.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a device which was developed to adjustably support either the arms, legs or other parts of the human body of an individual who is either a patient in a hospital or who is stretcher-mounted in a casualty staging area of a battle zone or being air-evacuated from the battle area. The device is of simple construction and yet fully adjustable. It can support the limb in a stationary position and yet be tilted from two horizontal pivot points and rotate around a vertical axis.

The preferred configuration comprises a main support section or member which is pivotally mounted at one end to a clamp which is fastened to the rail of a bed in a hospital or a stretcher in a battle zone. The device further comprises an end support means pivotally mounted on the other end of the main member and a preformed adjustable limb holding means rotatably mounted on the end support. This deyice is of simple construction and yet has a high degree of adjustability.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a limb support which is adjustable so as to provide various elevations and angles of support for a limb in order to facilitate medical treatment or healing thereof.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a limb support which can be easily attached or removed from a bed or a stretcher.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a limb support which is economical to produce and which utilizes conventional, currently available components that lend themselves to standard mass production manufacturing techniques.

For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of the limb support of this invention in use; FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation view partly in crosssection of the limb support of this invention; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the limb holding means of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown the limb support 10 of this invention supporting an injured arm 12 of a body (not shown). It is to be realized, however, that although FIG. I shows the support used to support an arm, it may readily support a leg or other part of the body.

The support 10 is shown clamped to the rail 14 of a bed or stretcher (not shown). The limb support 10 is made up of a main section or member 16 of any suitable material such as aluminum. The main member 16 is pivotally mounted at one end to clamp 18 by any suitable fastening means such as bolt 20, washer 22 and nut 24. The nut 24, if desired, may be in the form of a wing nut to facilitate the adjustability of the main member 16 about clamp 18. An end support means 26 is pivotally mounted on the other end of main member 16 by a suitable fastening means such as bolt 28, washer 30 and nut 32 which may also be in the form of a wing nut. Rotatably mounted on the end support means 26 is a preformed adjustable limb holding means 34. Limb holding means 34 is rotatably mounted on end support means 26 by any suitable fastening means such as bolt 36, washer 38 and nut 40 (see FIG. 2) which as above may be in the form of a wing nut. The arm 12 of a body rests in limb holding means 34 and is held in place by straps 42 and 44 which may, if desired, protrude from slots 45. Further adjustment of the limb support 10 may be accomplished by adjusting sections 46 and 48 of limb holding means 34 relative to one another. This is performed by adjusting connecting rods 50 and 52 relative to each other and securing them in the desired position by tightening wing nuts 54.

For a more detailed description of the invention we refer now to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows that limb support 10 is held to rail 14 by a clamp 18. This clamp 18 comprises two sections 56, 58. These sections 56, 58 are held in place by a threaded bolt 60. The bolt 60 can be rotated by knob 62 which is fixedly secured to the lower end thereof by any suitable fastening means such as screw 61. By rotating knob 62 the clamp 18 may be either tightened or loosened around rail 14 of a bed or stretcher (not shown). To prevent the bolt 60 and sections 56 and 58 from completely separating during the removal thereof from rail 14, a washer 64 is mounted by any suitable fastening means such as screw 66 in the upper end of bolt 60. When the bolt 60 is in its lowest position, washer 64 abuts the shoulder 65 of hole 70 and prevents sections 56 and 58 from completely separating. A plug 68 preferably of plastic or rubber may be used to close hole 70 to prevent dust or dirt from entering the hole.

The main member 16 is pivotally mounted at one end to clamp 18 by any suitable fastening means such as bolt 20, washer 22 and nut 24. Pivotally mounted to the other end of main member 16 is an end supporting means 26. The end supporting means 26 comprises an angle-shaped member 72 rotatably mounted at one end to main member 16 by bolt 28, washer 30 and nut 32. To facilitate the rotation of end supporting means 26 relative to main member 16 a bearing member 74 preferably of Teflon is inserted between one end of angle-shaped member 72 and main member 16. Another bearing member 75 permits rotation of member 72 about bolt 28. On the other end of angle-shaped member 72 of end supporting means 26 is rotatably mounted limb holding means 34 which is rotatably held in place by any suitable fastening means such as bolt 36, washer 38 and nut 40. Again to facilitate the rotating of limb holding means 34 relative to supporting means 26 a bearing member 76 preferably of Teflon is inserted between the other end of angle-shaped member 72 and limb holding means 34. Another bearing member 77 further permits rotation of limb holding means 34 about bolt 36.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, we see that limb supporting means 34 comprises sections 46 and 48 preferably of plastic which are adjustably held together by connecting rods 50 and 52 and wing nuts 54. Plates 80 and 82 are held together by screws 84 while bolt 36 is fixedly secured to plate 82. This permits limb support means 34 to rotate with respect to end support means 26.

MODE OF OPERATION In operation, the limb support is clamped to the rail 14 of a bed or stretcher (not shown) by loosening knob 62 so that sections 56 and 58 of clamp 18 may be placed around rail 14. Then knob 62 is tightened, thus securely clamping limb support 10 in place. It should be noted that no matter how much knob 62 is loosened the sections 56 and 58 will not completely separate due to washer 64 abutting the shoulder 65 at the lower end of hole 70.

After the limb support 10 is securely in place, the injured limb of a person is placed as close as comfortably possible to limb holding means 34. Nuts 24, 32 and 40 are now loosened and the limb support 10 is adjusted so as to conveniently hold the injured arm 12. Each bolt 20, 28 and 36 provides a pivot point for rotation. When the arm is properly positioned within limb holding means 34, the nuts 24, 32 and 40 are tightened, Straps 42 and 44 are also tightened around the injured arm 12. This securely holds the injured arm 12 in place for either healing or medical treatment thereof.

As can be seen the limb support 10 is both of simple construction yet highly adjustable.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that the invention is capable of a variety of alternative embodiments within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, the sections 46 and 48 of limb supporting means 34 may be further adjusted in the longitudinal direction by the provision of slots in connecting rods 50 and 52 adjacent wing nuts 54. Also, conventional notched or serrated bearing members may be used in place of bearing members 74 and 76 in order to reduce the chance of accidental rotation of limb supporting means 34 and end support means 26 after the limb support has been finally adjusted.

I claim:

1, An adjustable limb support comprising a main member pivotally mounted at one end to a clamp, said clamp adapted to be clamped to the rail of a stretcher, said clamp being made up of a pair of sections, one of said sections having a threaded hole therein and a shoulder thereon, said sections being held together by a bolt therethrough, a plug covers said hole, a knob fixedly secured to one end of said bolt for rotating said bolt so as to tighten or loosen the sections of said clamp, a washer fixedly secured to the other end of said bolt, said washer capable of engaging said shoulder in order to prevent complete separation of said sections, an end support pivotally mounted on the other end of said main member, said end support and said clamp are each pivotally mounted to said main member by a bolt, washer and nut arrangement, a preformed adjustable limb holding means rotatably mounted on said end support, and said limb holding means being made of two preformed plastic sections adjustably connected to each other by a pair of connecting rods held in the desired position by a pair of wing nuts whereby a limb strapped to the limb holding means can be adjusted to any desired position by adjusting said limb support. 

